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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s announcement this week that the voting age will be lowered to 16 has reignited calls among Israeli youth leaders for a similar move ahead of future national elections.
Starmer, citing low voter turnout in recent elections, said it was time to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to help shape their government. “I think it’s really important that 16- and 17-year-olds have the vote, because they are old enough to go out to work, they are old enough to pay taxes, so pay in," Starmer said. "And I think if you pay in, you should have the opportunity to say what you want your money spent on, which way the government should go.
The change, which still requires parliamentary approval, would expand rights already granted in Scotland and Wales, where 16- and 17-year-olds can vote in local and regional elections.
In Israel, the National Student and Youth Council has lobbied for over a decade to lower the voting age, at least in local elections, but without success. The announcement from Britain has fueled renewed optimism.
“We are citizens of this country at 16, we have duties and rights,” said outgoing Council Chair Roni Kamai, echoing Starmer’s argument. “It’s important that we are seen as an integral part of Israeli society, in elections and in public life.”
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Kamai added that years of student lobbying to lower the voting age in municipal elections had already led to “significant changes” in how mayors engage with youth, especially around education policy and local needs.
“This generation matured with the country through national crises,” she said. “It’s time we are treated accordingly.”
Dror Cohen, a high school senior from Petah Tikva and incoming chair of the national student council, said the British decision shows how political inclusion can empower youth. “It puts young people at the center of the public conversation,” he said, adding that it would help advance issues important to teens by making them visible to elected officials. “It’s a way for them to see us as the future and act for us.”
Cohen pledged that the council would continue pushing for change in the coming year. “We want to make sure that whenever people talk about youth, they talk with youth.”
Yuval Dgani, a high school senior from Haifa and incoming vice chair of the council, said political discussions already take place in schools, “but they are unstructured.” Lowering the voting age, she said, would encourage informed engagement. “It’s a way to teach teens how to conduct political dialogue and choose responsibly.”
Dgani echoed her colleagues’ hopes that a change would force politicians to take younger voices seriously. “It would help them see us, our daily concerns, our future, as a legitimate part of the decision-making process.”
Most countries set the voting age at 18. If Britain’s Parliament approves the change, the UK will join a small group of nations—including Austria, Brazil, Argentina, Cuba and Ecuador—that allow voting at 16. Some EU countries, such as Belgium, Germany and Malta, permit 16-year-olds to vote in European Parliament elections.